(1) Field of the invention
What I submit here is a compact assembly, which enables a rider of a bike to drive it on water in the same manner he drives it on land.
Notice: Whenever the word bike is mentioned, it indicates either a bicycle, motorbike, or a motorcycle.
This application is following the main streamline and subject, of the abandoned application Ser. No. 713,974 (art unit 315) submitted before, filing date Aug. 12, 1976; and which was called also "Rowing Bike".
(2) Description of the prior art
Many inventions dealt with the same idea or subject, that is a bike or a floater which drives on water by means of a pedalling action. U.S. Pat. No. 1,869,139 by Gargiulo which he called hydrocycle, is an example. He claimed a floater, comprising a disc, covered on one side by inflatable rubber, or two spaced discs, with a water tight covering engaged over one of the discs, and secured on the face of the other. And I thought that using inflatable rubber is a little bit risky on water, since it is liable to be pinched, and causes the bike to sink. Also upon speeding on water it will give a rough ride, because the rubber is elastic. He claimed also a rowing mechanism fixed on said floaters, which comprises many rods, many cams, and many moving parts, and I found that I can offer a less complicated system.
His method requires changing the design of the conventional bike to give the propelling action to the floaters. The bike also confronts great opposition from the water, because the floaters are wide, which requires strong pedalling. And it takes a job to set up or, dismantle the assembly to switch from driving on water or on land.
I found another invention by Petroskey U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,239, which he called a float apparatus for a bicycle, and in which the design is bulgy, heavy, and not practical to be driven on land when completely assembled. It also requires a special mechanism to give the steering action to the propelling means, and one misses the simplicity in the rowing means, the steering means, or the pedal assist means.
I mention here another U.S. invention U.S. Pat. No. 271,799 by Coomans, which he called marine velocipede. His design is suitable and designed specially for tricycles, and only for the very old type of them which have huge tires, so they are unadaptable to the bikes in the market now. Special types of tires for floatation are needed; their size should be huge, and the rubber tire must have extended fins moulded in them, to do the rowing action. U.S. invention U.S. Pat. No. 839,476 by Hartlett which he called water transportation means, needs a special wide fork frame, to be able to take the tire, and two auxilliary inflatable tubular tires for floatation, one piece on each side of the wheel. He also claimed inflatable floaters, and their delicate telescopic support means, and it is clear that such water transportation means should be driven slowly, heavy vehicles like motorcycles could not be used, also heavy people will find it like walking on a wire, and the center of gravity is limited to a narrow area. He also claimed special types of paddles secured to the spokes in the wheel, and the bending of the spokes is apt to occur in his design.
In U.S. invention U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,669 by Katehis which he called amphibious vehicle; he claimed horizontally extending pontoons, and they are hollow. Besides that he claimed specially designed propulsion means which require a new type of rear wheels, still the simplicity in construction is missing here.
Two other inventions will be mentioned here just for comparison. One of them is by Nilsson U.S. Pat. No. 2,169,391 called water unicycle, where he used a circular, tubular, rubber wheel, to buoy his device; and it is clear that said device has a limited use.
As of the other U.S. Pat. No. 698,184; an Italian invention by Mezzano Adolfo; which he called the floater propelled by pedalling, he used a floating board that has special foot pedals, equiped so as to do rowing, it is also evident that his invention is of limited use. Also for comparison the following U.S. patents were cited, Osofs U.S. Pat. No. 1,060,620, Garehime U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,804, and Ankert U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,945, besides a Canadian Pat. No. 772,914 by Tremblay.
I am offering here a design which is simple in construction; yet it is strong, and sturdy for the purpose it is used for. It is safe to use without risk, and encounters less friction with water; it is also cheap and does not need altering in the construction or the mechanism of the bike.
It is also light in weight, and compact, which allows it to be driven on land without even dismantelling it. For all those factors mentioned; I believe that my new embodiment excells over the other ones mentioned before, and it is practical.